Shadow the Hedgehog
by munchy21491
Summary: Tormented by his forgotten past, Shadow the Hedgehog seeks out who he is and why he was created. When a strange band of aliens invade Earth, they find Shadow and explain to him a promise he made long ago to them. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Shadow lay on the grass in a field and looked up into space. The sky was crimson red, but the stars were still visable. The grass, too, seemed almost red from the atmosphere's color reflecting off of the Earth. Shadow seemed to blend right into the scene from his dark black hair and sleek red stripes on his some of his streaks. It was becoming night, but Shadow didn't care. Time was not a factor in his life. Nothing was.

"Why am I here?" he asked himself. "What was I created for?"

Shadow closed his eyes and thought back, as far back as he could. Nothing. He opened his eyes again.

"Why can't I remember anything? Why don't I have memories?"

Shadow sat up. These questions going unanswered have been bothering him for some time now, and he didn't have any idea how to answer them anyway. He would be stuck in his own mind forever unless he could find his purpose.

Shadow looked over at his shoes. They weren't shoes, Shadow knew.

"They're machines," he said aloud. He stood up and focused on these mechanical materials on his feet. They began to give off energy from the souls of the feet resulting in Shadow lifting lightly off the ground. He stayed there hovering over the ground for a while.

Shadow knew he needed them. He knew that because otherwise he wouldn't have them. His purpose depended on his shoes, and his shoes depended on him. His shoe's purpose was to serve him in order for him to execute his own reason in life. The only problem was, Shadow didn't know what his own purpose in life was, so his shoes were rendered useless.

That would make two things in the world unneeded.

"I must find the secrets of my past to find my purpose. I can't possibly live my life without a meaning. Some one must tell me. But… there is no one on this Earth that could possibly explain the past to me. No one."

Shadow dropped from his hover. The wind blew in his face. Shadow closed his eyes and took the wind in. Everything has a purpose, even the wind, Shadow thought.

The wind began to blow harder. It was blowing much harder than it should be. The sky also took on a darker look, defiantly unnatural. "What is this?"

Shadow looked toward the city to his left. It was called Westopolis, Shadow recalled. He saw above the city a black hole in the clouds being formed.

As far as Shadow could see, a small figure fell form the sky. It looked like a supernatural human, almost three times the size of any normal human being. Then two more creatures fell. Both looked a bit smaller than the first creature. Flying, purple bats emerged from the sky also.

Pretty soon, all sorts of monsters were plummeting to the Earth. Something in the back of Shadow's mind told him to go and check it out. Shadow realized he had just gotten a sign – a piece of his memory slightly coming back to him.

But why did he need to check and see what was happening? Shadow quickly dismissed this question and understood that he should just let it be. He should do what his mind tells him to do, whatever comes to him naturally.

Shadow began to race towards the city. He was in for something big.


	2. Chapter 2

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Shadow stood on top of a cliff overlooking the city of Westopolis. It was total chaos down there. The creatures smashed cars, uprooted signposts and banished them at buildings, they clobbered buildings, and they shot down anything in their sight.

Shadow stood there unfazed. He knew he could easily take down most of these creatures, but he chose not to. He realized he should allow his instincts direct him from here.

As he watched the beings before him abolish everything in their path, he heard a faint noise behind him, far, far away. It was getting closer. He knew what was coming, it was a plane. A military plane. A G.U.N. military plane.

The plane flew over Shadow. He saw military tanks and armored cars holding G.U.N. marines coming in from different roads. The tanks fired their payloads at the creatures that were destroying the city. The creatures quickly focused on them and began smashing in the tanks and cars.

The marines jumped out of their transporters and began firing at the green and purple creatures. The marines got a good look at them. They looked like some sort of other worldly being; the eyes were thought to look like a reptile's. They were pupil less and yellow, so you could never tell what their eyes were focused on.

They had humongous, velvet legs supported by two toes, each toe equipped with white, razor-sharp nails. Their bodies were green as you could see veins popping out from under their skin.

Their arms, too, were velvet with three fingers and three nails. They were much bigger than a human's. The bigger one's had spikes emerged from their spine's while the smaller ones did not.

_ Defiantly_ classified as aliens.

The battle for control of the city continued. G.U.N. soldiers fired their guns, as did the otherworldly beings.

Aliens continued to fall from the sky. One of the larger aliens fell on top of a car, completely crushing the vehicle under its weight. A rushing car escaping from the scene was going toward where that car was at the time, and when the moving car realized it was in a collision course with this newly spawned alien, it slammed on the breaks.

Too late. The alien swung its arm into the side of the car sending it hurling into a building beside them, resulting in an explosion that engulfed about four G.U.N. soldiers.

Things were totally out of control.

"Shadow," a voice spoke to Shadow behind him. He was very surprised and amused to see someone knew his name. Shadow slowly turned to face the creature that called to him.

There stood a floating creature garnished in grayish-purple robes. It had three dark red eyes in the center of what appeared to be its face. The eyes were stacked on top one another in a pyramid scheme. Only the top eye had a pupil. The creature had two long, pointed spikes emerged from both side of its head. And finally, it was wearing a series of necklaces that looked like they were worn for some religious purpose.

The creature spoke again. "Have you collected the Chaos Emeralds?"

Shadow stared at the life form before him. Finally, Shadow answered, "I don't understand what you are talking about."

The creature moved towards Shadow and began to study him. It looked directly into Shadow's eyes. "You are Shadow, are you not?" it asked.

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Have you forgotten the promise you made to me?" the creature asked in curiosity.

"I don't remember anything," Shadow confessed. "How could you possibly forget our relationship? It is I, the ruler of the Black Arms, Black Doom," the creature explained to Shadow.

Shadow closed his eyes again. There was nothing but emptiness inside his mind. "I don't remember anyone named Black Doom or anything about Black Arms."

Black Doom stood there in shock. Something was defiantly bothering him, Shadow could tell. Shadow could also tell that Black Doom and the Black Arms would be a big step into finding out what Shadow's purpose is. Black Doom obviously knew Shadow.

"What are you doing here on Earth, and how is it you know me?" Shadow asked Black Doom.

Black Doom began to speak. "Bring me the Chaos Emeralds as you promised, and the secrets of your past shall be unlocked."

Shadow realized that this was his only chance to find the secrets to his past.

Shadow stood there pondering what Chaos Emeralds were. "Exactly what are Chaos Emeralds?" Shadow asked.

"Chaos Emeralds are jewels containing the ultimate power. There are seven Chaos Emeralds located here on the face of the Earth."

"And what are you planning on doing with these emeralds?" Shadow questioned Black Doom.

"That, you shall find out on your journey. Now hurry and find the emeralds, I will only be on this planet for one month. When that time is up, I must leave and return to my home planet." Black Doom told Shadow, and then turned to look at the destruction below them in the city.

"We shall meet here once one month has passed," Black Doom said to Shadow, then raised one of his large necklaces with his left hand and began to move it in the motion of a pendulum while holding his right hand up, then vanished.

"Looks like I have no choice but to find these Chaos Emeralds," Shadow said aloud. "Seems like I'm on a little journey now."

Shadow jumped from the cliff and skidded down the rocks. When he landed, he spotted a fallen G.U.N. soldier. Shadow took the rifle from the troop's hand, loaded it, and set off into the city.


	3. Chapter 3

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Shadow looked into the city with amusement. He never thought that Westopolis would ever be demolished like _this_. The roads were cracked open, some buildings were smashed in, cars were crushed, and even a fire hydrant was smashed flat causing water to spurting out from it. It was all probably from the huge, falling aliens.

Buildings also burned, cars were torched black, and people were even seen lying motionless on the ground.

None of it mattered to Shadow. All Shadow knew was that he had a new purpose now. And the purpose was to find the seven Chaos Emeralds. With the help of his shoes and super natural abilities, he would be able to find all the emeralds before one month has passed.

Almost instantly, the G.U.N. army spotted Shadow and began to fire at him rapidly. Shadow swung from side to side to avoid the shots at him. Successful, Shadow raised his own rifle at the army and fired. One by one, the men fell.

Next thing Shadow knew, G.U.N. machines were charging at him. The machines were robots, artificial intelligence, that were supposed to act just like a real G.U.N. soldier. They were a little bulky, and that only made them harder to destroy.

As one of the machines charged at Shadow, Shadow jumped over the robot and curled up into a ball. He fell onto it like a rock and smashed it. The robot broke into pieces and scattered everywhere.

Five other robots began to shoot at Shadow with their built-in guns. Shadow jumped into the air again and sent himself flying into one of the machines. The machine broke, and as Shadow made contact, he bounced off the machine's surface and, in one motion, hit another robot, and once again bounced off onto another. The cycle continued until all five of them were down.

That little trick was called the homing attack. He could hit multiple enemies by bouncing off one another. Just one of the many things Shadow could do.

Shadow walked away from the debris of the broken machines. He saw 3 of the Black Arms aliens fending off a few G.U.N.s, and Shadow decided to join in with the aliens. He shot down a few of the G.U.N. men.

The Black Arms seemed to recognize Shadow immediately. Shadow felt strange about that, some of the aliens might have known Shadow very well while he had no idea whom they were.

Shadow continued down the road full of destruction. Shadow hid inside of a building when he saw that a tank was heading his way. He saw that the marine that was driving the machines had his head sticking out from the top of the tank. Big mistake. Shadow took aim at the marine's head and shot once. The shot impacted his skull and killed him immediately.

Shadow ran to the tank, and with the help of his hover shoes, he was able to get there _much_ faster than he could normally do without them.

He knocked the dead corpse out of the tank and took control. He began firing wildly at all G.U.N.s he saw. He had to help Black Doom and the Black Arms get control of the city successfully. If he did, then he could possibly get a group of Black Arms to aid him in the search for the Chaos Emeralds.

The Chaos Emeralds. That was his purpose. His purpose was to get the Chaos Emeralds for Black Doom. Or at least, that was his purpose for now. Shadow was sure that was subject to change.

Just then, out of the corner of Shadow's eye, a blue dart came and swooped him out of the tank and onto the ground. Shadow knew instantly who it was. He picked himself up immediately and started shooting at the blue object ferociously. The blur of blue came back into Shadow and knocked the gun out of Shadow's hands.

Shadow got a good look of the blue blur. It was Sonic, just as he suspected. Sonic, like Shadow, was a hedgehog. However, Sonic had a natural ability to run at the speed of sound whereas Shadow was aided with his shoes to be able to perform a task such as that.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Sonic yelled at Shadow. Shadow picked the gun up from the ground. "I'm helping the aliens to take control of the city."

"Is something wrong with you? The aliens here are going to kill all of us! Me, you, our friends, the military, civilians, everyone!" Sonic shouted at Shadow. Sonic seemed very stressed. Obviously because of what was occurring here on Earth. But Shadow didn't care. All Shadow cared about was his purpose.

"These aliens won't hurt me. They know me. I don't know how, but they do. They want me to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds and bring them to the Black Arms. The Black Arms is what these aliens call themselves," Shadow explained to Sonic.

"Chaos Emeralds? You mean… these?" Sonic asked while pulling out a green Chaos Emerald from behind him. Shadow was eager to take it from Sonic right then and there, but he decided not to. _Another natural decision_, Shadow thought.

"You help me rid the city of the aliens, and you get this emerald. You choose not to help me, and I smash the emerald into tiny bits right here," Sonic threatened Shadow. Shadow wondered why Sonic would break the Chaos Emerald; Shadow knew it was very valuable to Sonic. Then Shadow realized Sonic probably thought the Chaos Emeralds were less important to him than saving the world from this deadly threat.

"You know, the Black Arms will hate me for this. But my purpose is to collect the Chaos Emeralds, so it seems I have no choice but to help you out here. I'm sure the Black Arms would understand anyway," Shadow told Sonic without a regret.

"Right answer," Sonic said, and placed the Emerald back where it was.

A huge explosion shook the city. It came from within a building far away. Sonic and Shadow could see the flames from miles away and the huge, black smoke that puffed above the building.

"Wonder what that was," Sonic said in fear.

"Lets check it out," Shadow requested and handed Sonic one of the G.U.N.'s pistols.


	4. Chapter 4

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Sonic had never been a big help in Shadow's life ever before. In fact, Sonic had been everything to Shadow _but_ an ally. Having Sonic around him made Shadow feel just as strange as he would be with the Black Arms.

It didn't matter. The Chaos Emerald that Sonic possessed mattered. And in order to obtain that emerald, this city Westopolis had to be rid of all Black Arms.

Shadow and Sonic raced side by side towards where the explosion came from. The explosion could easily have been thirty miles away, but it would only take about five minutes for both Sonic and Shadow to get there with their amazing speed.

They spotted a group of G.U.N. marines. That wasn't good.

Unfortunately, the G.U.N. military that were there didn't think of Sonic and Shadow as allies. They've both been problems to G.U.N. army for quite some time now, and what are the chances of Sonic and Shadow changing their ways to help them now?

Guns were pointed in Sonic and Shadow's direction immediately. It was pretty damn hard to take aim at them though, being that they were traveling at an incredible speed. Shadow turned back to look at the soldiers while still running in the same direction. He took aim with is gun and pulled the trigger.

At that same exact moment, Sonic came and smacked the gun out of Shadow's hand. "Don't shoot them! They're allies now!" he yelled at Shadow. When the rifle that came out of Shadow's hands hit the ground, it fired for about half a second.

Sonic and Shadow continued to dash forward, leaving the marines behind.

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to die. These military soldiers are threats, and threats must be neutralized," Shadow tried to explain while the wind rushed in his face. "If you don't want to die, then you have to protect yourself, just don't shoot the G.U.N.s," Sonic told Shadow.

Shadow replied to Sonic, "I'll protect myself alright," and he turned and began running to an armored G.U.N. car. No one was in it, so Shadow hopped in. Luckily, the keys were still in the ignition. There were a few rifles in the car as well. Shadow took one gun in his left hand, held it out the window, and started up the car.

He pointed the gun at Sonic and signaled him to get inside the car. Sonic obeyed him and jumped in. Sonic, too, held his pistol out of the car's right window. Shadow hit the gas and they were gone.

Shadow had never driven before, at least as far as he knew, but something in his mind told him that he knew exactly how to drive, and, to Shadow's surprise, he did know how.

There were about ten Black Arms running towards G.U.N. soldiers behind Sonic and Shadow's newly-found vehicle, so Shadow took the opportunity to take down a few aliens.

He remembered what the aliens did to the cars when they fell onto them. They could crush the vehicle flat if Shadow ran into them. And since Shadow and Sonic were in the car, they'd too be flat as a pancake along with the car.

Shadow maneuvered the car to miss all the oncoming Black Arms. He and Sonic fired their guns while passing by them and took down five of the aliens.

The Blacks Arms here were wielding strange violet swords made out of some otherworldly element. When the sword made contact with metal, the metal burned and sizzled. Shadow imaged what could happen if bare skin touched the sword.

Shadow passed all the Black Arms and continued to ride the G.U.N. jeep down the highway. Luckily, there were no enemies in sight. Sonic put his arm back in the car and looked over at Shadow.

"Shadow, do you have any idea why the Black Arms need the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic asked Shadow.

"I haven't a clue. I don't see why you should care, anyway. Just give them what they want and they'll leave us alone. The ruler of the Black Arms, Black Doom, said they would only be here for a month. So just stay out of it and let them be," Shadow told Sonic.

Sonic looked away from Shadow and back to the chaotic city that was once peaceful. Shadow looked over at Sonic. Sonic's face blew in the wind of the open window. Apparently Sonic was thinking about what these creatures could want to do with the emeralds. That made Shadow think about what he was doing, too.

After a few minutes of driving, they became close to where the explosion in the building came from. Sonic decided to exchange his pistol for a rifle like Shadow's since he had the chance.

They drove straight up to where the building exploded.

It was unbelievable. A huge, burning wildfire at the base of the building was devouring the skyscraper. There was a massive hole in the side of the building that made the tower tilt to one side.

Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the car.

As Shadow inspected the hole in the building closer from where he stood, he realized there was a tiny gray alien in the very center of the where the hole was. This one was like nothing Shadow or Sonic had ever seen before. It was in the shape of a tiny little ball and had one little yellow eye in the center of it. It was probably no bigger than a basketball.

"Is it possible that this little creature blew that hole in the building?" Sonic asked. "Don't judge it on its size. It's possible that this thing could do the same thing to us. We should shoot it and kill it now just to be safe."

Shadow raised his gun and leveled it at the small Black Arm. He held the trigger down for a second so that four rounds hit the creature.

As the bullets made contact, its small pudgy body absorbed the bullets. Sonic stared at it in surprise. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Then, almost spontaneously, the little alien began to grow. It started to puff itself up like a balloon full of air. It sprouted wings out of its back. It opened a hole under its eye to create a mouth. In fact, it blew itself up so much that it was able to fill the hole it made in the building.

That was a good thing, too, because now it was stuck in the building and couldn't escape.

Sonic looked to Shadow. "What do we do? The guns are useless," Sonic said.

"Then we should try to physically assault it," Shadow suggested.

Shadow rushed toward the monster with great speed. As he became close, the monster spat out a burst of fire. The flame carried itself out and began to spread everywhere catching everything it made contact with aflame.

Shadow jumped clear over the danger heading his way. The flame missed him and torched the building behind him. The building that was hit created a massive explosion that sent Shadow and Sonic, along with cars and street signs, flying.

Sonic and Shadow jumped back on their feet. That had to have been the attack this monster preformed to make the hole in the building the creature was stuck in.

Sonic and Shadow rushed toward the creature. They both jumped up and curled up into balls. They threw themselves at the monster, but it was no use. They simply bounced back off the Black Arm.

Shadow realized that the creature's eye had to be its weak point. That was the only part of the monster that wasn't covered by its rough, pudgy skin.

Shadow spotted a street sign that was torn from the ground from the monster's attack. He picked it up and threw it like a javelin at the monster's eye. It hit the creature and, in reaction to the pain, cried out in shock.

It began wildly blowing flames everywhere in all directions. Shadow and Sonic dodged the flames as best they could, but the heat was intense and that made them tire quickly.

Sonic began to slow from the extreme heat. Shadow saw this, but continued to avoid the fire. Sonic finally gave in and collapsed after a minute or so. When Sonic fell to the ground, the Chaos Emerald Sonic was holding fell from him and hit the ground. Shadow saw that and quickly rushed over not to help Sonic but to nab the emerald.

As Shadow's fingers brushed the Chaos Emerald, Shadow's memories flooded back.

He saw himself holding the green emerald up to the moonlight. He stood atop some sort of giant, broken down G.U.N. machine. He looked down from the machine at Sonic who was walking towards Shadow and speaking to him. Next thing he knew, Sonic was sprinting towards him shouting at him. Shadow threw the Chaos Emerald into the air and caught it coming down, shouted something, and vanished.

Shadow came out from his trance. His instincts came into play. The creature banished fire directed at Shadow. Shadow raised his hand with the Chaos Emerald in hand and shouted, "Chaos Control!"

Time seemed to stop. No, time didn't _seem_ to stop, time _did_ stop. The Chaos Control. Shadow realized he had the power to harness the power of the Chaos Emerald.

Perhaps… his purpose was to harness to power of all seven Chaos Emeralds? But for what use would the power serve? Shadow would think about it later.

Shadow grabbed Sonic and tossed him back into the G.U.N. car for his safety.

He knew time was of the essence. Shadow dashed towards the stilled creature. He sent a final blow to the eye of the monster causing it to explode, engulfing Shadow and the rest of the building the Black Arm was in.

The building collapsed. In an instant, G.U.N. soldiers and robots where at the scene. Luckily, they didn't notice Sonic in the vehicle.

The soldiers saw something move in the rubble of the fallen building. The soldiers quickly got behind a few cars for cover. They knew something was under the debris there, and it wasn't friendly. They all got their guns ready.

Shadow emerged from the destruction with a bright red aura surrounding him. The soldiers immediately fired their weapons at Shadow landing almost all their shots on him. The bullets, however, were deflected off of Shadow and landed onto the ground. Shadow began to walk towards them as the marines continued to fire their weapons.

Finally, Shadow gathered his energy and shouted, "Chaos Blast!"

The flaming red energy that surrounded Shadow was released causing everything near Shadow to be blown away, including all of the G.U.N.s surrounding him.

Chaos Blast.

Shadow stood there unfazed. He looked over at the G.U.N. jeep where he tossed Sonic into. He saw Sonic climbing out of it. Sonic had seen all of what had just happened.

"Shadow," Sonic stammered in awe, "What are you?"

Shadow pondered the question for a second. "I am all I am," Shadow replied.


	5. Chapter 5

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

"Commander Radcliff, the report on operation 'Solemn Stone' you have requested to receive is here," Captain Devlin reported to the Commander.

The Commander was sitting at his desk. He looked up at the Captain.

Captain Devlin looked into the eyes of the Commander. Commander Radcliff was an old man that controlled the entire G.U.N. military. He was actually the longest working official in G.U.N., also. Since he has grown in age significantly since the time he joined G.U.N., his hair had lost its original color and was now completely white. Commander Radcliff was a responsible man who always knew what to do in battle and was never afraid to send his troops in to protect his nation.

"Good work, Captain," Commander Radcliff congratulated the Captain and took the repot from him. The Captain left the Commander's room.

He opened up the report's folder and read:

'**0103 Hours, June 12th, 2057/**

Northern Westopolis 

Unknown creatures fell from the sky in Northern Westopolis. They were unclassified and have never been seen before. There were totaled to be three different types of these creatures.

The first kind of creature has been studied and predicted to weigh about 2.7 tons. It has human-like arms and legs and is able to support its own life when exposed to oxygen. They have two dull spikes erected from their spines. These creatures were seen lifting and throwing vehicles and smashing buildings with their bare hands. It is the largest of the three creatures with the height of 8'5" through 9'1". The Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) Federation Forces have given these creatures the title of "Gargantues". Included in this folder is a photograph of a Gargantue.

The second creature spotted seemed very similar to the Gargantues. They are smaller, weighing approximately 1.4 tons. They also have human-like arms and legs and are able to support their own lives when exposed to oxygen. These creatures, however, are not equipped with the two dull spikes the Gargantues have. The creatures we saw were about 7'2" to 7'11" in height. These unknown creatures have been dubbed "Cellions" by the Guardian Units of Nations Federation Forces. A picture of a Cellion is included in this report.

The third life form found were aerodynamic creatures that seem to group up in numbers and then attack. They have the ability to fly in a similar way a bat flies. They are about twenty-three times the size of a regular cave bat and weigh about 70 pounds. They can survive in oxygen also, and can travel of up to speeds of 120 miles per hour. They are about 4'2" through 5' in length. By the Guardian Units of Nations Federation Forces, they have been named "Paramats". A picture of a Paramat was snapped and included in this folder.

We have decided to name the group of these three kinds of creatures "Extermination Hazards".

The creatures also have been found wielding weapons. For a complete diagnostics on their weaponry, please comprehend the report on the creature's weapons.

Also found at the scene where two hedgehogs. One hedgehog was an ocean-blue color and was about 3'3" in height. It weighed about 77 pounds and was seen traveling at speeds of up to 760 mile per hour. It was able to enter sonic boom.

The second hedgehog was a dark hedgehog, the same color of night. It was about 3'4" in height and weighs about 82 pounds. This one also could reach the speed of 760 miles per hour to enter sonic boom with the help of its specially designed hover-shoes.

Neither hedgehogs seem associated with the Extermination Hazards. They were seen killing both the Extermination Hazards and G.U.N. soldiers. We were unable to get a photo of either hedgehogs.'

The Commander stopped reading there. He placed the file back onto his desk. He didn't need a picture of the black hedgehog. He already had one.

Commander Radcliff opened up a drawer in his desk and pulled out a folder titled "Project ARK". He opened the file and took out a picture of Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form.


	6. Chapter 6

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

Shadow sat on top of an undamaged building in Westopolis. It had become night, it was very dark, but thanks to the city's illumination from the lights in some buildings, Shadow could see everything. He clutched onto the green Chaos Emerald he had recently acquired.

He had time to think about what was going on. Shadow knew that he didn't know anything about his past. He had no clue what his purpose here on Earth is or why he was created.

Shadow figured that if he had the ability to do something, he was more than likely meant to do just that. And that would be to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds. What he still never found out was what to _do_ with the Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic's question really got Shadow to think about just that.

"_Shadow, do you have any idea why the Black Arms need the Chaos Emeralds?"_

The answer was no. Shadow did not know what the Black Arms would do with the Chaos Emeralds. Would they use them for good… or for evil?

The Black Arms _were_ fighting the humans for possession of the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow guessed that whatever they were using the Chaos Emeralds for would be anything _but_ to benefit the world.

Shadow thought about what he was doing. Was he going to help the Black Arms to do whatever they were planning on doing? Would that make Shadow wrong, also?

_But I was created for collecting the emeralds… maybe it doesn't matter whether I used the emeralds for good or evil,_ Shadow thought to himself.

Shadow was so confused. He looked over at the Chaos Emerald he clutched in his hand. "What should I _do_ with you?" he asked the emerald in frustration.

The beautiful, green emerald shimmered in the moonlight.

Shadow closed his eyes, held the emerald to his chest, and thought back. As far back in time as he possibly could.

There he saw a little girl. Her hair was the color of cornflower, and her face looked so innocent. She looked deep into Shadow's eyes. Shadow noticed her eyes were light blue. How beautiful. She was leaning on some sort of machine, supporting herself.

Her chest was drenched in blood… it soaked the brilliant blue dress she was wearing. The dripping, red blood was all over the machine she was leaning on. The girl looked weak and weary.

"Give them… a chance…" She said to Shadow weakly. Shadow watched her in horror. This gruesome image was completely terrifying. Shadow reached for her to help her, but was prevented by an invisible force in front of him.

Shadow saw himself closing his eyes and holding the emerald. He heard himself shout in an echo in his own mind, "Maria!"

A name unknown to Shadow. A name forgotten long, long ago. A name to haunt him in his dreams.

Maria.


	7. Chapter 7

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

"So… my grandfather's journal was correct, just as predicted," Eggman whispered to himself watching the computer screen in front of him. Eggman was in his base in a secret facility heavily guarded with Eggman's henchmen robots. On the computer screen Eggman was watching was a report showing the city of Westopolis in ruins and what had happened yesterday there.

"It's time to initiate the SCAP program," Eggman said aloud to himself.

Eggman was a tall, obese man sporting a long, hazel mustache. He walked down the platform he was previously on and accessed another computer close by. He switched the power of the computer "ON" and booted up the file named SCAP.

Eggman looked at the many capsules in front of him. They were all standing upright looking towards him.

Eggman had a total of 3,560 capsules in total. They were about five feet high and contained life forms in each of them. Each pod was filled with a mysterious green liquid supporting the life of each creature. All of the creatures inside their pods had their eyes closed.

"It's time to awaken," Eggman called to the creatures in the capsules.

The green liquid in the capsules where drained from the inside when Eggman started the SCAP program. Each being inside the pods opened their eyes. The pod's top lifted up and the creatures were released.

One life from stepped out of the crypt-like capsule. His dark red eyes looked directly at Eggman.

"The **S**hadow **C**lone **A**wakening **P**rocess was successful," Eggman told himself with pride.

The creature that stepped closer to Eggman. It looked _exactly_ like Shadow. It had dark hair with slick red streaks, bright red eyes… even its _shoes_ were identical to Shadow's.

Eggman looked to the other capsules. The other Shadow clones were up from their sleep also. They, too, looked at their master, Eggman.

Eggman pointed at the group of Shadow clones. He called to all of them:

"Attention S-3000's! I am your creator and master, Eggman! You are to obey me and only me! Failure to obey my orders will subject you to brutal disciplinary actions! Do you understand?"

The massive wave of Shadows' acknowledged Eggman by brightening and flashing their eyes red. They continued to stair at him.

"The purpose of the S-3000's is to exterminate the world of all humans. That is you primary mission. After you complete phase one of my plan, you will go on to step two. Step two is that you must create a bond with the Black Arms.

"This…" Eggman showed the S-3000's a picture of what the G.U.N.'s called a 'Gargantue' on his computer screen "…is a Black Arm. You are to find their leader and join his army. From what my grandfather's journal says, they will not harm anything that is part of their army.

"That would include Shadow. Shadow is part of the Black Arms. From what my grandfather has written, the Black Arms seem to be the perfect race of life forms. They are the strongest, smartest, fastest, _everything_. Shadow's DNA consisted of traces of Black Arms, therefore making him one of them.

"Because you, the S-3000's, have Shadow's DNA forged within you, the Black Arms should easily accept your peace offering. Then, once you are in the army, you must collect their precious Chaos Emerald from their home planet and bring it to me. With it, I shall harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds and will rule the entire universe! Do you understand?"

The Shadows' flashed their eyes again.

Eggman looked down to his right. There was a ball made out of machinery, it was about the size of a basketball. It had a small screen on it and a miniature satellite dish on top of it.

Eggman reached into the back of his head and pulled out a little chip from a machine attached to his spine. He slipped the chip inside of the computer-ball. Eggman switched the invention on. The ball's screen flashed and a picture of Eggman come into view.

"Proceed," the Eggman on the screen said to the Eggman human.

The Eggman human then looked back to the S-3000's. "Begin your mission," he told them, and held his arms out and prepared himself.

In seconds, all 3,560 of the S-3000's sprang up from the ground and threw themselves towards Eggman and completely obliterated Eggman's human body.

Eggman's dead corpses lay there badly beaten. From the ball's computer screen, Eggman stared and watched his own dead body on the floor while the Shadows' were breaking windows to escape their hold and kill the humans.

Lucky for Eggman, he predicted his distinct orders to "exterminate the world of all humans" that he gave his Shadow androids would, of course, include himself. So Eggman processed his own DNA into this nifty machine for a second life.

The ball began to float and Eggman followed the S-3000's out into the world.


End file.
